I'm new to the boards... But many of you may have seen our ad on the side banners of the ghostvillage.com site for our original web-series "Gallo Family Ghost Hunters" ...

The reason for this post is to get everyone's take on one of the most controversial subjects in the paranormal field.... Orbs. Now while I get and understand that this phenomenon can indeed be caused by dust and condensation... We only seem to be getting them when we are actively taking photos in what we feel are haunted locations... For example... We were in a small 200 year old haunted cemetery that was just restored and were getting some really incredible EVP evidence... When we reviewed our photographs, we noticed an orb hovering near my daughter... The next photo is where I turned to photograph a different part of the cemetery... When I turned back to photograh her again, the same orb was still ther only higher up near the EMF detector she was holding...

I have shown this evidence to some of my fellow paranormal friends and they debunk it as the usual dust orb... But I'm not so sure... It just seems uncanny to me that these orbs are only showing up "where they should" and nowhere else in my photo's.... We have other cases similar to this one where the orbs just seem make sense...

I still cling to knowing a few, and I do mean a very small amount of orbs can be real. The problem is too many just aren't, and that ruins using them as evidence when skeptics will rip you for even admitting you believe in them. When you see a ball of light flying through a cemetery and it's not a lighting bug, then why is it such a stretch that there is a slim chance you could catch the ball of light on film? I'm limiting my orbs on my site to ones caught without a flash with my infrared setup that does not catch dust. OR ones on video like this one, that really kicks but. I'll try to link it

yeah that's not a bug! High speed right angle turn, appearing from a person, and disappearing right back into them. Stuff like this I want to see MORE of. Dust I do not want to see anymore of, and people need to get a clue about it seriously!

Awesome video evidence for sure... Especially since it was around a living person which validates that it was gathering energy to manifest...

But back to the theory of dust orbs in photo's... I see that there is a difference of opinion even amongst respected paranormal investigators and mediums... For instance, Fiona Broome accepts that they are real when taken around haunted locations... So does James Van Praague and Mary Ann Winkowski whom the Ghost Whisperer show was based on... Dr. Harry Stafford (Whom I know personally) seems to be split down the middle on the issue...

So again, while I do believe that orbs can be caused by dust, it seems to me that many investigators just may be throwing out REAL evidence because they are not 100% sure... Which to me is dubious, because at this point in the evolution of paranormal investigation... Nothing at all is 100% sure...

I'm new to the boards... But many of you may have seen our ad on the side banners of the ghostvillage.com site for our original web-series "Gallo Family Ghost Hunters" ...

The reason for this post is to get everyone's take on one of the most controversial subjects in the paranormal field.... Orbs. Now while I get and understand that this phenomenon can indeed be caused by dust and condensation... We only seem to be getting them when we are actively taking photos in what we feel are haunted locations... For example... We were in a small 200 year old haunted cemetery that was just restored and were getting some really incredible EVP evidence... When we reviewed our photographs, we noticed an orb hovering near my daughter... The next photo is where I turned to photograph a different part of the cemetery... When I turned back to photograh her again, the same orb was still ther only higher up near the EMF detector she was holding...

I have shown this evidence to some of my fellow paranormal friends and they debunk it as the usual dust orb... But I'm not so sure... It just seems uncanny to me that these orbs are only showing up "where they should" and nowhere else in my photo's.... We have other cases similar to this one where the orbs just seem make sense...

Any thoughts?

Bobby J.

Hello there Bobby!

I would like to add that I am also NEW to this site and therefore not able to upload pics yet. However, I can say that I totally agree and believe in the orbs as being tied to the spirit realm. Simply due to we have had 2 paranormal groups investigating our residence and BOTH teams have picked these up. Now, you may ask how do I know it's not dust when the second team <more high tech equipment wise> was inside and we were outside on the back deck watching all 4 cameras in different locations in case they missed something or were not in that room where the activity was going? Well, how about this... When you have dust in a trailer or home or room, the dust would be there regardless...right?! Not change frames according to what room the people were in while we were watching the monitor of all four locations as if apparently to follow people throughout our home and then clearing out of the frame where the people were NOT.

Also, I just received more audio and pics from the first team via email. Our boxer mix, AnnaBelle Marie, has been adamant at times about playing UNDER the couch with someone/something and this all started after the first team's visit. She always goes UNDER the couch at the same location. In between the computer desk and couch....right where there is a window in between them that looks out into our back yard. Brandy said she remembered we didn't have any pics of US so she sent two. I sensed to zoom and scroll so I did. I found in the floor in between the desk and couch is an orb...just ONE orb in the whole pic. Then, in the second pic, AnnaBelle was active at this point trying to play in between the desk and chair and Kevin was trying to keep her still while the EMF reader that was laying on the coffee table in front of us pointing at us was going 90 to nothing and lighting up from green, to yellow, and then to red.....back and forth. In the second shot that Brandy took, Kevin's hand is on AnnaBelle to try to calm her and there are 4 orbs. The same one as in the first pic along with one by Kevin's wrist, two more in front of curtain. <Keeping in mind this investigation was done at night, no light sources in back yard, and a room darkening panel/curtain is over this window along with a set of blinds>. Brandy has photographed a white orb floating about in the hallway. The activity appears throughout the trailer and especially in the hallway where Kevin saw a dark shadowed faceless female figure stop at our doorway into our bedroom once she realized he was still awake <I was asleep> and then slowly retreated backwards <floating fashion> into the darkness of the hallway.

Now, the second group that was more high tech had a camera in the front bedroom <we use for storage> and upon our sitting outside with the monitor and dogs, they were inside finishing setting up the cameras and we heard Ramon yell "Start recording". Soon as the cameras came on, the front bedroom visual reminded me of that scene in the movie POLTERGEIST where the mist <some call it ectoplasm> and orbs were floating down the stairwell....this was EVERYWHERE in the front bedroom. This front bedroom is heightened activity as well and this is why the camera was placed in this room. Ramon, another investigator of his, and myself were in this room speaking of the activity in this room, like with the first team had motion detectors going off several times, and asked my opinion that if I were to place a camera in there, which way would I face it. I provided my opinion and we all three heard a tapping of sorts on the window as if a pebble had been thrown or a long, female's fingernail barely tapped on the window. Ramon spoke aloud to ensure that everyone heard it. . . So yes, I DO believe in them.....

I agree that the situation validates that the orb was the real deal... In my own experience I have seen orbs in pictures hovering around EMF detectors when we were asking the entities to ping the needle... I have seen them surround a team member like a halo when a communication was talking place... And it is interesting that I rarely catch them at any other time. So again, the situation validates the claim in this case...

I can say that I have always been seeing or hearing things somehow and it started with hearing my Dad's voice call my name 3 times from behind me the morning of his funeral. I'd turn around each time and nothing there. I was in my room somehow in this zone of not thinking about anything but just gazing out my window and this is when it occurred. I have been accused of "not listening" throughout the years and have sort of turned the volume down on the hearing portion...lol. I was too young, naive, and didn't understand what all was going on so I'd just retreat to this zone. Now, with all this activity here, I have sort of accepted things as they are and now can hear so much more....lol. Sometimes just whispering conversations and I have always known/sensed that there was something bigger than us out there. Now, some say that there are different colored ones with different meanings. I am unclear as to this as I have not been able to look into this yet with my studies <FT student> and trying to handle this negative being/entity here and getting it sent back to the sender, but I am interested to learn more about the colored meanings....

This past Wed. I was on an investigation at a known haunted theater with some fellow paranormal groups... We were seeing orbs through the LCD screen of our IR camera... They were flying around in peculiar patterns and had "tails" attached. When we looked up we could not see them with the naked eye... So my friend from a different team held up his flashlight and pointed out that the air was full of dust... and I mean a LOT of it! ... So now KNOWING that the air was filled with dust I proceeded to take about 10 pics each of the area both with IR and without... It was night and the room was black... I thought to myself that I should get at least several pics with so called "dust orbs" since the air was so dusty that we could see the orbs in the LCD screen... If indeed that was what they were...

The result? .... In all of the pics.... We did not get one "dust" orb......

I took about 500 shots last night, and was watching bugs all night. I got at least 20 with bugs in them, and yes I know they were bugs. Since my camera infrared light is on all the time I can watch my viewfinder and follow stuff. When you focus in on them they are bugs unless they do something completely strange. I have also found many of them displaying rod like qualities where they look like they have more than one set of wings. Again I saw them, and I know they were bugs. A small sample does not discount the dust orb theory. I have found that my camera will not catch dust at all because of how high the light is away from it, but it still will catch out of focus bugs which can look like orbs. It really has to be something so strange bright or fast moving that you can say it really is ghost related. If it looks like a bug, or it looks like dust then it's not a ghost.

You will notice that it's not your typical orb... First, it was seen with the naked eye of a fellow team member (which prompted me to start snapping photos in that direction)... Plus, when you click on the pic to blow it up... You will notice that it is self-illuminating and that it actually has some kind of "halo" effect...

Interests:Serious Research and separating the truth from the hype in the paranormal field today.

Posted 23 July 2012 - 10:03 AM

Real orbs will exhibit either of two characteristics.

It will cast a shadow of itself on any object behind it if illuminated with a flash. Just like a baseball would if suspended in the picture. A flash puts out a fixed amount of light. If the orb reflects half of that back to the camera the reduction iwill be seen as a darkened area in the field behind the orb, i.e. a shadow.

If it is self illuminating it will cause other objects nearby to cast shadows in their own right just as a light bulb would. Plus, if self illuminating it will appear in a picture with NO flash or external light present.

Indeed! ... It seems this particular orb did all those things... A fellow team member caught an identical one in another part of the theater that did cast a reflection... And this orb in particular was first seen by a fellow team member at this spot... That is why I started snapping pics in that direction...

what about an orb that you can see with the naked eye about the size of a grown female fist- very very brilliant colors- the most beautiful colors I have ever seen in my life? A small blueish halo around it and it went through doors. And no I was not drinking or on drugs. Just curious:)

Interests:Serious Research and separating the truth from the hype in the paranormal field today.

Posted 21 September 2012 - 02:30 PM

While an orb seen with the naked eye is not likely dust it also may not be paranormal. There are similar sightings that have been found to be ball lightning or an electrical plasma field. In the case of glowing orbs the best thing to do if photographing them is to take your picture but turn OFF your flash. Allow the orb to provide all illumination, this will both rule out any dust while at the same time keeping the light spectrum unpolluted by extraneous flash. It will allow the picture to be analyzed with greater detail.